Political commentator Hasan Piker detained at airport: He thinks Trump Admin is trying “to create an environment of fear”
Political commentator Hasan Piker was stopped and questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Chicago.
Hasan Piker, a prominent leftist political commentator and Twitch streamer with 2.8 million followers, said he was detained and questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport upon returning from France on Sunday, blaming Trump’s “environment of fear” tactics.
Speaking on his Twitch broadcast Monday, Piker recounted that, despite being a U.S. citizen and an approved traveler in the Global Entry program, he was taken to a private room designed to expedite reentry for pre-screened individuals. Piker was returning to the United States from France to speak at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago on Monday.
“The reason for why they’re doing that is I think to try to create an environment of fear to try to get people like myself or at least others that would be in my shoes that don’t have that same level of security to shut the (expletive) up. I’m gonna use the privilege that I have in that moment to try and see what the (expletive) they’re doing“, Piker said.
‘Do you like Hamas? Do you support Hamas?’
Piker said the interrogation centred around his political views and online commentary. “They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently,” he said, describing how an agent repeatedly asked provocative questions such as, “Do you like Hamas? Do you support Hamas? Do you think Hamas is a terror group or a resistance group?”
He said the interaction, while “cordial” in tone, focused heavily on his ideological positions, including questions about former President Donald Trump and whether he had any contact with groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis. Piker argued that the experience reflected a broader pattern of targeting outspoken critics of U.S. policy.
In response, a CBP spokesperson told USA TODAY the stop was standard procedure: “Claims that his political belief triggered the inspection are baseless. Our officers are following the law, not agendas. Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection - a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveller. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released.”
Piker’s detention follows a string of recent federal detentions of pro-Palestinian students and activists, including Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, and Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi, all of whom were later released by court order.
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